I Have a Name: The Gender Dynamics in Asylum and in Resettlement of Ethiopian and Eritrean Refugees in North America

Two independent studies of Ethiopian/Eritrean refugees, one of single men and one of women, are used to compare and contrast the particularities of the refugee experience for women and men. The clearly differentiated gender identities of the home culture were seen to affect the subjects' attempts to rebuild their lives and reconstruct their identity in the new environment. The status of men in the home culture being higher, they found it difficult to come to terms with a lower status and limited opportunities on resettlement. Women, in contrast, had already experienced a conflict in the home environment between their traditional and their individual aspirations. In addition, the traumatic experiences in flight and asylum (such as rape, and the possibility of prostitution as the only survival strategy), made the women realize that for them, there was a much lower status than ‘menial’ employment. Consequently, they tended to see the new environment as offering more possibilities for them in the long term, and to have less difficulty in accepting a low position in the short term.